Last night's preseason game against the Jacksonville Jaguars was much more enjoyable to watch than last week's preseason opener against the Tennessee Titans. A comfortable 24-10 victory meant that there was a lot more excellent play than poor play, which shows in this week's studs and duds breakdown.
STUD - Miles Sanders
After a lackluster NFL debut of three rushing yards on three carries, Sanders was able to show much more of his explosiveness in this week's preseason game. He had two 10+ yard runs which were beautiful to watch:
Not only was he excellent running the ball, but he picked up the linebacker blitz on 4th down that allowed Clayton Thorson to thrown his lone touchdown pass of the evening.
DUD - Stefen Wisniewski
Wisniewski is currently slated to backup Jason Kelce at center this season. Wiz has experience at center in his professional career, but he is much better as a guard. That became evident when he threw multiple bad snaps to Thorson throughout the night. If he isn't able to get it under control, the team could look to bring in another player as a more suitable backup option at center.
STUD - Clayton Thorson
When he was first pressed onto the field due to Cody Kessler's concussion, he picked up where he left off against the Titans - looking shaky. This time though Thorson was able to overcome those nerves and actually settle in. He finished the evening going 16/26 through the air for 175 yards. His receivers dropped some good passes he threw, and the one interception he threw was caused by the receiver letting the wet ball slip from his hands, so he had an even better game than the numbers show. He threw his first NFL touchdown and it wasn't really a beauty, but it got the job done.
Thorson's deep balls were still an issue though, as it looked like every single one wobbled along the way. Still, he showed some promise last night that he could be the third-string quarterback on this year's team and spend the 2019 season developing in practices and learning from Carson Wentz and Nate Sudfeld.
DUD - Deiondre' Hall
Hall got plenty of reps last night at safety. With four tackles he was tied for the second-most tackles on the team last night, and he even made a nice stop on 4th-and-one to force a turnover on downs. But on one play he tried tackling with his shoulders, which led to the receiver bouncing off of him and getting a bigger gain. When you're battling for a roster spot you can not afford to have any flaws in your game, and unfortunately Hall had a noticeable one.
STUD - Daeshon Hall
Hall has been the star of the preseason for the Eagles. So far in two game he has 8 tackles, 5 QB hits, 4 tackles for loss, 3 sacks, and 2 forced fumbles. This strip sack was just another example of how beneficial he can be to this Eagles team as a depth/rotational option.
STUD - Shareef Miller
Hall may be having an amazing preseason, but the rookie who is competing with him for a roster spot isn't playing too shabby either. He picked up a sack last night, his second straight game bringing down a quarterback. He had two QB hits and two tackles for loss in the game.
DUD - Josh Sweat
Hall and Miller are continuing to show themselves both on the field and on the stat sheet, but Sweat was invisible in Jacksonville, not even recording a sack. The Eagles used a fourth-round pick on Sweat so it isn't likely the team moves on from such a high investment so early, but it's time to start worrying that Sweat isn't dominating against second and third-string offensive linemen.
STUD - Vinny Curry
When a veteran is playing against inexperienced offensive linemen, you know who's going to win those battles. Curry only ended up recording two tackles on the stat sheet, but he was a pain for the Jaguars to deal with all night, pressuring the QB on multiple occasions. Curry is ready to become a reliable rotational end for the Eagles once again in 2019.
STUD - Greg Ward Jr.
The ball thrown for Ward's touchdown catch was poorly thrown, but Ward was able to adjust well to catch it and then make the necessary moves to get in the open field and reach the end zone. He had one other catch in the game, finishing with two catches for 42 yards. He's still a long shot to make the roster, but his play last night certainly did him favors.
STUD - Carlton Agudosi
He only had two catches, but one of them was an eye opener, as it appeared Thorson overthrew his intended target Greg Ward Jr., but Agudosi was able to notice the ball coming and make a spectacular tiptoe catch on the sideline. This play will certainly increase his stock, but Agudosi still has a lot to do to try and make this roster.
STUD - TJ Edwards
You could see Edwards all over the field last night. He had a fantastic tackle for a loss on a running back, and later in the game forced the Jaguars QB to throw ball away on 3rd down. The undrafted free agent is making a name for himself and could possibly make this year's team.
DUD - Matt Pryor
Pryor was drafted last year with the expectation that he'd be a developmental guard. He has the raw talent, but he still is having some mental blocks. He committed a few false starts against Jacksonville, which puts Pryor at five penalties called against him in just two games.
STUD - Jordan Mailata
Mailata has only been playing football for roughly 18 months, but he is starting to look like he belongs out there on the gridiron. On the very first play of the game he teamed up with Halapoulivaaiti Vaiti to set up a nice block for Sanders to run for over 10 yards. There weren't any egregious mistakes made by Mailata, which is making Howie Roseman look like even more of a genius for taking a chance on him last year. Now Mailata has experience at both left tackle and right tackle, which will certainly come in handy for him as he continues to learn and develop.
